e506 REMNANTS OF TIME. thee, by thy Sim and by thy Spirit ?'Hast thou not, by the mouth of thy Son Jesus, required all that profess his religion to be wash -. ed'with water in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost ? is not my duty then, to enquire, who or what are these sacred names and what they signify ? Must I not know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ thy Son, whom thou hast Sent, that I may fulfil all my respective duties towards thyself and thy. Son, in hope of eternal life ? Hath not thy Son himself appealed to thee in his last prayer, that eternal life depends upon this knowledge ? And since thou hast made so much use of thy holy Spirit in our religion, must I not have some knowledge of this thy Spirit also, that I may pay thee all those honours thou requirest from this divine revelation ? Hast thou not ascribed divine names, and titles, and cha- racters to thy Son and thy holy Spirit in 'thy word, as well as as- sumed them to thyself ? And hast thou not appointed to them such glorious offices as cannot be executed without something of divinity or true godhead in them ? And yet art not thou, and thou alone, the true God ? How shall a poor weak creature be able to adjust and reconcile these clashing ideas, and to under- stand this mystery ? Or must I believe and act blindfold, with- out understanding ? Holy Father, thou knowest, bow firmly I believe, with all my soul, wbatsoever,thou hast plainly written and revealed in thy word. I believe thee to be the only true God, the supreme of beings, self - sufficient for thine own existence, and for all thy in- finite affairs and transactions among creattn.es. I believe thy Son Jesus Christ to be all-sufficient for the glorious work ofmediation. between God and man, to which thou hast appointed him. I believe . he is a man, in whore dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily. I. believe he is one with God ; he is God manifested in the flesh ; and that the Man Jesus is so closely and inseparably united with the true and eternal godhead, as to become one person, even as the human soul and body make one man. I believe that this illustrious person is hereby possessed of divine dignity, sufficient to make full atonement for the sins of men by his sufferings and death, even though sin be accounted an infinite evil. ; and that he bath all- sufficient power to raise himself from the dead, to ascend to heaven; and fulfil the blessed works for which thou hast exalted hito, and to govern and judge the world in thine appointed time. I believe also thy blessed Spirit bath almighty power and in- fluence to do all thy will, to instruct men effectually in divine truths, to change the hearts of fallen mankind from sin to holi- ness, to carry on thy work of illumination, sanctification, and con- solation on the souls of all thy children, and to bring them safe to the heavenly world. I yield myself up joyfully and thankfully to this method of thy salvation, as it is revealed in thy gospel.
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